Philippine President to Obama: ‘Go to hell’

On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told Barack Obama in no uncertain terms to “go to hell.” According to the AP, it was Duterte’s “strongest tirade so far against the U.S. over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign, adding that he may eventually decide to ‘break up with America.'”

The AP added:

n a speech before a local convention attended by officials and business executives, Duterte outlined his disappointments with the U.S., which has asked his government to stop the widespread killings and has questioned whether human rights are being violated. He also described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with U.S. troops.

“Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell,” Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: “Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up.”

In a later speech at a synagogue in Makati city in the Manila metropolis, Duterte warned he may decide to “break up with America” in his most serious threat so far to push relations back with Washington.

“Eventually I might, in my time, I will break up with America,” he said. “I would rather go to Russia and to China.”

It’s not the first time Duterte has made these kind of inflammatory comments. As we noted here, he called Obama a “son of a whore.”